A grinch story

[Gregor 4,846]

OK    I know it's Christmas, and everyone is suppose to be happy, but.............

I usually don't have my TV on in the garage, but today I do, and there is this commercial that pops up about every 20 minutes. Nicorette. Stop Smoking Aid. It starts out, "Quitting smoking is FRICKING hard !"  I am no prude believe me, but I think this is just wrong. Kids of all ages are watching these holiday shows. Do you want your 9 year old grand child coming home from school and saying, "That FRICKING math test today was hard! I think I FRICKING flunked! What the FRICK am I going to do?

OK  rant over. 

[roadapples 6,983]

I agree, but I'm sure they hear a lot worse in school. Probably from the teacher....

[Pullstart 62,905]

True, and true.

[AMC RULES 37,130]

I've read the chemical addiction to cigarettes is harder to quit than heroine.  

You're not a smoker, are you?

[Gregor 4,846]

15 minutes ago, AMC RULES said:

 

You're not a smoker, are you?

Ironically, I just finished making 3 cartons of cigarettes,

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

29 minutes ago, AMC RULES said:

the chemical addiction to cigarettes is harder to quit than heroin.

 

I can't speak to that... yet... because I'm still taking Nicotine in the form of the Nicoderm patch.  Step 1 is 21 mg / day, 2 weeks / Step 2 is 14 mg / day, 2 weeks / Step 3 is 7 mg / day, 2 weeks.

 

I'm on my SECOND box of Step 3 right now because when the first one was finished, I wanted a smoke so bad... hopefully another 2 weeks will do it.  I know at some point I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and JUST DO IT !

 

The PHYSICAL reaction to quitting Nicotine isn't nearly as bad as that with heroin though... and I'm speaking from OBSERVATION, NOT personal experience!

 

Whatever the hold that nicotine has on someone just doesn't make any logical sense...  it's not like nicotine gets you high, you don't actually FEEL anything!  So why does your brain crave it so?

 

And,,,,  it's  NOT  FRICKIN HARD!   You just need to make up your mind to do it!  All it takes is WILL POWER!  How is having will power FRICKIN' HARD ?

 

(I say this as I'm pondering an excuse to the Treasurer for me to go out and sneak to the convenience store and buy a pack... yeah, it's FRICKIN' HARD! )

 

This makes "Honey, I gotta hit Tractor Supply, be back in a bit!" plausible...

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[Gregor 4,846]

Several years ago,  I got a Rx for Nicorette. $600  Not covered by any insurance. Did nothing.

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

7 minutes ago, Gregor said:

Rx for Nicorette. $600

 

I think it's much cheaper now.  The patches run about $40 a box.  So the three steps, $120.00  That's about a carton and a half of smokes.

 

I don't understand why insurance won't cover it.  They should IMO, but they probably weigh the success rate against the cost of covering.  They know that most people only make a half-azzed attempt at it and go back to smoking.

 

 

7 minutes ago, Gregor said:

Did nothing.

 

Because you didn't WANT them to do anything!  

The smoking cessation aids are not magical miracles!

They are only an AID to help lessen the cravings.

They will not and can not STOP the cravings!

 

 You gotta really WANT TO QUIT!

If you don't want to, you won't.  

Nothing will help, Patches, Gum, Emphysema, LC... nothing.

You GOTTA WANNA!

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Jeff-C175

[AMC RULES 37,130]

Makes perfect FRICKING sense to me, why this FRICKING commercial is bothering you so FRICKING much.  

I believe you can quit today, if you want to.  

You just gotta be

stronger than a FRICKING cigarette, that's all there is to it. 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by AMC RULES

[Handy Don 12,232]

41 minutes ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

The PHYSICAL reaction to quitting Nicotine isn't nearly as bad as that with heroin though... and I'm speaking from OBSERVATION, NOT personal experience!

 

Whatever the hold that nicotine has on someone just doesn't make any logical sense...  it's not like nicotine gets you high, you don't actually FEEL anything!  So why does your brain crave it so?

I've learned, finally, that addictions of all kinds (but especially chemical) are no s**t serious stuff that someone who's never experienced it cannot ever fully appreciate.

I hope you succeed in overcoming yours. 

[roadapples 6,983]

I smoked for 42 years. Most of that 2 packs a day. I tried a pipe for a while. The place I bought my tobacco from said theirs had no additives just like their cigarette tobacco. I never really believed they added anything to cigarettes to keep you hooked. Eventually I went back to cigarettes thinking at least they had filters, but I bought tobacco from the same place and rolled my own. I had tried to quit many times before, going crazy, not fit to be around, always failed. After about a year of rolling my own with no factory made cigarettes, I quit again. It was almost easy this time. I still wanted them out of habit but not the terrible cravings I had before and it would go away. That was 15 years ago.

  My advice is stay away from factory cigarettes and roll your own for six months, then try again.

     Worked for me.....

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

22 minutes ago, roadapples said:

stay away from factory cigarettes

 

So you're thinking that there's something more than nicotine that the factory adds in order to 'hook' ya?  Wouldn't put it past them... lots of profit in dealing drugs.

 

[Stormin 9,981]

   In my younger days I could go through 50-60 king size a day. In my mid 40's started rolling my own. Now I don't smoke in the house and 50g can last me a fortnight. 

[19richie66 17,508]

My dad smoked. I hated it. Eventually what lead to his death. Never had the desire. I did smoke a clutch in my buick. Smelled worse than cigarettes  

[Jeff-C175 7,202]

14 minutes ago, 19richie66 said:

Smelled worse than cigarettes

 

You sure that wasn't the after affect of the Breakfast Burrito ?

 

[Sparky-(Admin) 21,318]

  I think kids are well versed in much “nastier” words than fricking nowadays. 
  But…the use of that word got your attention, got a discussion going on a tractor forum about the difficulties of quitting and AND got a few of you talking about the quitting process that worked (or didn’t) for them. 
  And if if gets just one of my Wheel Horse brothers to quit a nasty life threatening habit I’d say it might just be a successful TV ad! 

[AMC RULES 37,130]

 Precisely what I'm FRICKEN sayin'!  

[roadapples 6,983]

1 hour ago, Jeff-C175 said:

 

So you're thinking that there's something more than nicotine that the factory adds in order to 'hook' ya?  Wouldn't put it past them... lots of profit in dealing drugs.

 

Never used to believe it. But, it was so much easier this time I have to think so...

[Gregor 4,846]

To be fair, this thread was never about the good or bad virtues of smoking. It just kind-a took off in that direction.

[AMC RULES 37,130]

 Evolved into something so much more FRICKEN meaningful than just another FRICKEN rant!  

[Gregor 4,846]

38 minutes ago, AMC RULES said:

 Evolved into something so much more FRICKEN meaningful than just another FRICKEN rant!  

My sincere apologies. I guess different things are important to different people. Don't know what I was thinking.

[ranger 1,750]

I grew up at a time when almost everyone smoked, every other advert on the tv was a cigarette ad. I smoked from an early age, but one day thought to myself, “What am I getting out of this”?. (I smoked ‘Woodbines’ at the time). With every ‘Draw’ all the energy seemed to drain away. So I stopped, no trying to gradually cut back, (which I personally think is a waste of time). I would like to add that I don’t consider myself to have a particularly high degree of ‘Willpower’. The first couple of weeks were the hardest, but then feeling so much better literally every day made it so much easier to refuse offered cigarettes, for some reason when friends know you are trying to quit smoking, they seem to be forever offering you cigs. I haven’t had a smoke in around 45 years! Looking at the price of tobacco nowadays is also a huge incentive to not start again!

Happy Christmas,

Doug.

[AMC RULES 37,130]

  Now don't go and smoke another 10 FRICKEN years because of me.  

I'm just tryin' to FRICKEN help here.  

[rmaynard 15,492]

Back to the original intent of the post. I was attending my 11 year old grandson's championship soccer game back in October. These were 5th & 6th graders. There were more f-words being thrown around on the field, and I don't mean "fricking". I'm not sure why the officials allowed it. I'm not a prude either, but I am disgusted by what language has devolved to in today's society. Not only was the language on the field, but some parents were guilty as well. I never used the f-word around my children, and now that they are grown, they don't use it around me. You hear it in movies, TV shows, and in music. My neice who is a nurse can't talk or type on Facebook without using it. I can't accept it as being the new normal. There is nothing normal about it.

 

My 2 cents worth.

[Handy Don 12,232]

29 minutes ago, Gregor said:

My sincere apologies. I guess different things are important to different people. Don't know what I was thinking.

I didn't mind the initial post or the tangents.

In reference to the initial topic, though, language (spoken and written) is very important to me. A person's choice of words tells me a lot about what s/he thinks and how clearly they can convey information. Care in writing and speaking is a sign that the writer or speaker respects the listener, and expects the same in return. Does a speaker/writer pay attention to what words their listener might find objectionable or is it "all about me" when s/he speaks? Casual use of homonyms to "mask" profanity is, to me at least, a sign that the speaker is fully aware of their tactics but lacks the vocabulary or the interest to be better spoken.